Company pays drivers to place Krispy Kreme ads on their cars

Michael Sandler never leaves home without two and a half dozen glazed doughnuts and his 25-cent Krispy Kreme coffee - all plastered securely to the side of his blue Saturn Ion.

The Peoria resident is one of the first drivers for a new Goodyear-based company, AllTran Media, that allows commuters to rent out the sides of their vehicles as advertising space.

"A lot of people come up to me, and they laugh and say, 'Why would you put that stuff on your car?' " Sandler said. "But basically you're putting stickers on your car. I'm real satisfied."

In exchange for $100 per month, drivers agree to have large vinyl decals placed on their cars. In addition, a GPS unit tracks their whereabouts. The Peoria branch of Krispy Kreme Doughnuts was AllTran's first client.

The company was founded in 2007 by Neil Turner and Alex Goss, former business-development colleagues at a New York startup. While stuck in traffic en route to Boston, the two spotted an ad on a taxi cab and thought, "Why don't cars have that?"

"We feel like we offer advertisers a way to target ZIP codes, target the customers they want," Turner said.

Turner and Goss spent three years developing a business plan, securing investors and coming up with ways for the decals to be moderate yet effective. There already existed companies that offered ways for drivers to become mobile advertisers, but they often involved full-vehicle wraps that took days to install.

AllTran chose the Valley as the company's first market for its weather and commuting culture. Its partners plan to expand to New Orleans and other cities in the near future. And soon they hope to roll out magnetic decals that can be removed. Sensors will transmit when the ads are attached to the cars, and drivers will be paid accordingly.

Dan Brinton, who owns 11 Krispy Kreme stores around the state, including the Peoria branch off 83rd Avenue south of Bell Road, said he usually does not advertise. However, he was intrigued by the idea of area cars adorned with doughnut decals and agreed to be AllTran's guinea pig.

"I'm a contrarian at best," Brinton said. "We do things that are pretty non-conventional."

AllTran President Cecilia Hammond said she received a lot of enthusiasm from area drivers.

Sandler, a substitute teacher who also works part time as a security guard, said he was looking for additional income when he came across a postcard seeking drivers.